Canadian Policeman Released From Hospital After Bicycling Accident

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Image: Fire and rescue personnel help transport Darrell Hees, a Canadian policeman (Ron Kuley, Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department).

A Canadian police officer who was seriously injured last week in a bicycle accident during the World Police & Fire Games is on his way home.

Darrell Hees, an officer from Winnipeg, was released Friday from Inova Fairfax Hospital and will stay with local relatives before going home to Canada next week, according to the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department.

Fire and rescue personnel, police and sheriff’s deputies were on hand Friday morning to assist Hees and his family, the fire department said in a blog post. Hees faces a long road to recovery from the accident, but he is already walking, the department said.

Another officer injured in the July 2 accident, Carlos Silva, died that evening at Inova Fairfax Hospital. Silva, 48, was a police inspector from Brazil. The accident occurred during a bicycle race in Prince William Forest Park, off Interstate 95 near Triangle. One other cyclist was seriously injured.

On Wednesday, police officers on motorcycles escorted a hearse bearing Silva’s body from an Alexandria funeral home to Dulles Airport. The officers came from Fairfax County and Fairfax City, as well as Prince William County, Alexandria, Arlington County and the Virginia State Police.

The organizing committee of the World Police & Fire Games has set up a GoFundMe site to help the families of Silva, Hees and the other athlete injured in last week’s cycling crash. To check it out, please click here.